IND vs ENG: Michael Vaughan, Tom Moody Slam Virat Kohli-Led Indian Cricket Team Management For Ravichandran Ashwin's Exclusion From Playing 11 of 4th Test in Oval

Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's omission from Team India's playing XI for the fourth Test against England at Kennington Oval on Thursday has once again sparked a debate in cricketing circles. Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team management has once again preferred the services of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in place of Ashwin in India playing 11. Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur replaced Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma as India made two changes going into the Oval Test. Former England captain Michael Vaughan termed the non-selection of Ashwin in the Indian lineup as "madness".

Former Australia cricketer and SRH team director - Tom Moody also expressed surprise at Kohli and Co.'s decision to drop Ashwin. "The non-selection of @ashwinravi99 has to be the greatest NON-selection we have ever witnessed across 4 Tests in the UK !!! 413 Test wickets & 5 Test 100s !!!! #ENGvIND Madness ...," Vaughan wrote on his official Twitter handle.

The non selection of @ashwinravi99 has to be greatest NON selection we have ever witnessed across 4 Tests in the UK !!! 413 Test wickets & 5 Test 100s !!!! #ENGvIND Madness

Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 2, 2021

Meanwhile, Moody also felt that there was ample room in India's playing XI to play both spinners Ashwin and Jadeja. "Surprising to see no @ashwinravi99 in India's XI, I believe there's ample room to play both spinners and 3 specialist quicks. @root66 will line this attack up once again! #ENGvIND", Moody wrote on his Twitter account.

The 34-year-old Ashwin is world's number two bowler in ICC Test rankings with 839 points. He has picked up 413 wickets in 79 Test matches at an average of 24.56.

Surprising to see no @ashwinravi99 in India's XI, I believe there's ample room to play both spinners and 3 specialist quicks. @root66 will line this attack up once again! #ENGvIND

Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) September 2, 2021

A couple of days back, Ashwin posted pictures on social media in which he was seen doing shadow batting. In one, he was playing the cover drive and in the other, he could be seen practising leaving the deliveries.

Nothing was out of place only that he was practising left-handed and the accompanying tweet read "The desire to ignite something different every day never burns out."

It was perhaps his way of telling the world that may be "left" would have been the "right choice".

On Thursday, Indian skipper Kohli once again announced at the toss that India's fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket would not be among the five best bowlers who would be playing the Oval Test.

Jadeja, with two wickets from last three Tests, was persisted with for his left-handed willow wielding.

"It's something that we thought is a good match-up for Jadeja as well, because mostly all our seamers bowl over the wicket. It's a nice little spot for the left-handers as well.

"I think according to the match-ups, it fits perfectly for our team - plus the balance he is giving us with the bat as well currently," explained Kohli.